The field of the invention relates generally to detecting false data injection attacks, and more specifically, to methods and a system for detecting false data injection attacks on a power grid substation.
Cybersecurity is a critical issue for reliable utility management. As the utilities move more towards smart grid systems, the potential for cyber-attacks increases. Smart grid systems provide many opportunities for communication to be transmitted between devices. Each device increases the opportunity for a vulnerability to be introduced that allows a malicious actor to introduce an attack into the smart grid system.
One example cyber-attack is a false data injection attack, where the attack introduces false data into a system, such as a smart grid system or other computer-based system. Many times this attack is used to cause the system to take actions that the system typically would not perform during normal operation. For example, an attack may introduce false sensor data configured to induce a substation circuit breaker to trip. Specifically, while the voltage and current may be within normal operating parameters, the false data may induce the system to determine that the voltage and/or amperage exceed safe operating parameters and thereby induce the system to de-energize a portion of the electric grid to prevent or alleviate fault conditions. Alternatively, the false data may indicate that everything is within safe operating parameters when conditions actually indicate that a part of the system should be isolated.